Shooter's Lawyer Says Gang Killing Not Premeditated

BARTOW | Prosecutors told jurors Tuesday that Juan Castillo was murdered in January 2011 in a gang fight — a fight that left Castillo's 13-year-old brother paralyzed below his waist.

By SUZIE SCHOTTELKOTTETHE LEDGER

BARTOW | Prosecutors told jurors Tuesday that Juan Castillo was murdered in January 2011 in a gang fight — a fight that left Castillo's 13-year-old brother paralyzed below his waist.

But defense lawyers representing 20-year-old Alejandro Baez-Garcia said it's not that simple, maintaining the crime didn't rise to the level of first-degree murder.

"The question is whether the state has proven that Alejandro Baez-Garcia had premeditation," Assistant Public Defender Austin Maslanik told the jury in his opening statement. "What is the state of mind? Was it premeditation, or was it some other state of mind? Was it something like self-defense?"

Prosecutors allege that Baez-Garcia was with several others in a van the afternoon of Jan. 8, 2011, as they drove down West Parker Street in Lakeland. Among them was Pasqual Jimenez, who testified Tuesday that he was sitting next to Baez-Garcia when he pulled a gun from under his shirt and opened fire on Castillo.

"He reaches down there and pulls out the gun," said Jimenez, who acknowledged he didn't want to testify in this trial. "When they saw the (van) door slide open, they ran."

Assistant State Attorney Ashley Krieger said Tuesday both Castillo and his brother, Jake, were shot from behind as they ran toward their house. Castillo, 19, was shot in the head, killing him instantly. Another bullet hit his brother in the lower back.

Baez-Garcia, then 18, admitted to Polk County Sheriff's deputies that he fired the shots, Krieger said.

"He was there and in the van," she said in opening statements. "He was the shooter.

"Instinct took over," she said. "He told the driver to turn the van around, he opened the door and he shot. He was the only one with a gun that day."

Maslanik said the events were more impulsive once the two gangs came together that afternoon.

"The emotion and impulses of young men took over," he said. "Things happened fast. There was no time for thinking or reflecting and deciding what to do. Like I said, impulses took over."

Maslanik suggested that a lesser charge may be more appropriate, including second-degree murder or manslaughter, which wouldn't involve premeditation and would carry a lighter sentence. If Baez-Garcia is convicted of first-degree murder, the only possible sentence is life imprisonment without parole.

The trial is expected to continue through the week.

[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533- 9070. ]